Afterwards, Theo and Helvi invited Fiore for dinner to tell her about Helvi as they ate.
“Eh!? A-a devil!?”
As Helvi spoke, she brought out the wings and horns she kept hidden.
If hearing about it surprised Fiore, seeing it astonished her.
“I thought your strength was monstrous from what I heard, but a devil…!?”
“Are you calling me a monster Fiore?”
“Ah, sorry.”
What she had thought all this time slipped out of her mouth. Not that it mattered much, since Helvi could see her thoughts anyway.
“Wow, devil… Hn? Uh?”
As Fiore looked at Helvi with this new information that she was a devil, she remembered something.
“…Helvi, when humans summon devils, don’t they have to offer some sort of compensation? That’s what I heard.”
“…Yes, that is true. Devils grant one wish but will take something in return.”
Fiore seemed sad as she heard this, and also seemed angry.
Helvi read her mind to figure out what she was thinking, and that was when Theo returned from the kitchen, having put away the tableware.
“Ah, Helvi, did you tell…”
“Theo!!”
“Y-yes!?”
Theo noticed Helvi’s wings and horns and figured she had told Fiore. He tried to talk about it, before being startled by Fiore’s yell.
Fiore stood up and approached Theo, as if pressing him for answers.
“Did you summon Helvi… A devil?”
“Y-yes, I did.”
“Then what were you going to offer as compensation!?”
“…!?”
Theo was not sure what to say.
Before he summoned her, he was ready to offer anything to become stronger. Even his life.
Looking back, he though it was a very stupid thing to do, but that really was what he thought at the time.
He felt cornered after being thrown out of so many parties for being weak.
After summoning Helvi, he fell in love at first sight and asked to marry her, but what would have happened if he did as he planned, and asked to be stronger?
He would have become stronger, and probably superior to the people that looked down on him, but there was a very high chance that he would have to offer his life as compensation in the end.
There was little point in becoming stronger if it cost him his life.
“W-well…”
Theo looked away, which confirmed to Fiore that she was correct.
She hugged Theo.
“Eh…?”
Theo thought she was angry, and was surprised by being suddenly hugged.
Fiore’s hair touched his cheek.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t notice…!”
A tear ran down her face.
Fiore realized that Theo, who she thought of as a little brother, felt so cornered he thought he had no choice but to rely on a devil.
If the devil that Theo summoned had not been Helvi, Theo would probably be dead at that point.
How painful must it have been if a fourteen year old Theo was ready to put his life on the line to summon a devil?
Fiore was suddenly hit very strongly by how much she did not notice.
“H-hum, Fiore… I should be apologizing…!”
“No, it’s not your fault Theo… I was the one closest, and didn’t realize.”
“You shouldn’t be so worried about that! If only I was stronger…!”
Fiore hugged Theo strongly, who was at a complete loss as to what to do and flapped his hands.
“Theo… I’m sure you’ll be fine with Helvi from now on, but if you’re ever in pain, tell someone. It can be Helvi, or me.”
“…Yes, thank you.”
Theo hesitated, but he put his arms around Fiore’s neck, and weekly hugged her back.
Theo felt as though his big sister was consoling him, and held back tears.
This continued for tens of seconds, until…
“Is it not time to break it up?”
Said Helvi, who stood closely.
Her voice brought Theo back to earth, who quickly stepped back. As he did, Fiore let out a reluctant sigh, which Theo did not hear.
“I-I’m sorry Fiore, for having you hug me for so long…!”
“N-no, I started it. Don’t worry…”
As far as Theo was concerned, Fiore continued to hug him to console him, so his face became a little red.
Fiore wanted the hug to continue for a little longer, but his wife would not allow it.
(Do not look at me with that bitter face. Theo is going to notice it.)
(I-I’m not! But you could’ve let it continue for a little longer.)
(I was standing here waiting. It was fine when you were hugging him as an elder sister, but you were hugging him as a woman by the end.)
(Uu…)
It was true. At first she hugged Theo as an older sister, out of worry for him.
But in the last ten seconds, she was thinking about how his body felt tighter than the last time she hugged him, and how he was becoming manlier. She also smelled his manly scent of sweat.
Helvi did not let this pass, and quickly broke it up.
(You’re too overprotective…)
(That is just fine for Theo. His guard is too soft in the first place. Also, that includes what you were saying.)
Perhaps due to his disposition, Theo carried a lot on his shoulders by himself, more than one would expect.
It was like that when he decided to summon a devil.
(I will eliminate anyone and anything that would corner Theo. So do not worry about him, Fiore.)
(…I see. I’ll leave him to you, Helvi.)
Said Fiore in her mind, from the point of view of an older sister.
Join my patreon to support me and read ahead.
